JHI graduate finally in control of her destiny
It was January of 2008 and 25-year old Stevi Otero resolved to make a fresh start in the New Year. No more dead-end jobs … no more dead-end relationships … the determined single mother of three was going to take charge of her life once and for all.
 “My self-esteem was so low, I didn’t think I could do anything right anymore. I just forced myself to walk into that orientation at the Jacksonville Hospitality Institute,” recalls Otero. “It turned out to be the best thing I ever did for myself.”
The Jacksonville Hospitality Institute (JHI) was established at Beaver Street Enterprise Center in November of 2006 to provide a nine-week training course geared toward preparing students for a career in the hospitality industry. A FreshMinistries initiative, with the slogan “Building Careers – Changing Lives,” JHI has partnered with several area organizations including Comcast, WorkSource, Winn-Dixie and The Clara White Mission, and hotels such as the Omni, Hyatt and Wyndham to train youth and adults, ages 18 to 45, who were previously unemployed, underemployed, homeless and/or disadvantaged.
Stevi Otero was stereotypical of the population JHI serves. “I got pregnant when I was in high school and worked in one restaurant after another for nine years,” she said. “I was looking for someone to take care of me, but they never did.” A long-time victim of domestic violence, Stevi Otero had sought refuge in a local shelter just prior to entering Jacksonville Hospitality Institute. “It was the offer of life management skills at JHI that grabbed me,” she said. “I had to start managing my own life.”
Today, with a full-time position at the Omni Hotel, Stevi Otero feels that she is finally in control of her destiny. “I love my job at the Omni,” she said. “I plan to work my way up to General Manager some day.”
Hired in March and currently working in the front office area of the hotel, Otero is looking forward to her six month anniversary at the Omni, when she’ll be eligible to sign up for one of the three management courses available to employees. “A career, benefits and a future,” she said. “Thanks to JHI, I’ve got it all right here.”
According to Scott Stuckey, General Manger of the Omni Hotel, Stevi Otero is a prime example of the caliber of JHI graduates that he has come to expect during the past two years. "We value our partnership with JHI,” said Stuckey. “We have student's that have graduated from the program who work in Accounting, Refreshment Center, Juliette's Restaurant, the Front Office and Housekeeping. With leadership from JHI Director Todd Jones, the graduates are remarkably well-trained.”
The Omni’s partnership role with JHI has gone above and beyond the hotel’s initial support of the program, not only with a large presence of graduates working at the hotel, but with regular representation of the hotel at the Institute. Scott Stuckey and Natasha Augustine, his Director of Human Resources, spend an hour at each JHI orientation, congratulating new students on being there and encouraging them to stick with it.
“We’re so grateful to the Omni for their ongoing commitment to our program,” said Jones. “We’ve decided they have earned our first annual Advocate of the Year Award.” Presented to Scott Stuckey on June 3rd at the quarterly formal JHI Graduation Ceremony, held at the Omni Hotel, the award was established by JHI to recognize a community partner that daily impacts the economic and social well-being of individual citizens of the First Coast.
For Stevi Otero, the partnership between the Omni and JHI has been a Godsend.
“I sat and listened to the encouraging words of Scott and Natasha that first day at JHI Orientation and I knew I wanted to work for them,” she recalls. “I set my goal that day.” |
